The Rose Golf Club was founded by Nick Cassini, a former All-American golfer and member of the 2001 Walker Cup team, and his brother Dimitri Cassini. Three other founding members include two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson and PGA TOUR members Brendon Todd and Chris Kirk. The common denominator among the five founders is their affiliation with the University of Georgia. They were all Bulldogs!
As the facility is in various stages of opening, leading the team onsite is Adam Kushner, the PGA of America General Manager. After nine years as Director of Golf or GM at Berkeley Hall Club in Bluffton, South Carolina, Kushner accepted the GM role at The Rose Golf Club just over one year ago. He recently reserved time in his busy schedule to share some insights for this month’s PGA General Managers Professional Profile feature.
Kushner: The Rose Golf Club is a brand new golf club located just outside of Athens, Georgia. With 18 holes, a full-service clubhouse, a 16-room cottage and Downtown Club across the street from the University of Georgia, the founders of The Rose Golf Club have paved the way for an amazing experience that seeks to find a balance between tradition and modernization.
We opened the Downtown Club last September and are planning a soft opening for the golf course next month for member preview play. We’ll then close the course for about eight weeks this summer to allow the maintenance team to grow in the turf during our first full growing season.
We will be fully open for golf operations next fall and will open our clubhouse around that same time. Cottages will be ready in 2027.
We will run operations this spring with a skeleton crew, and then bring on a caddie master and golf professional this summer to prepare for the full operations in the fall.
As the general manager, my role is to be the face of the club, building a strong leadership team and developing a culture that members and teammates want to be a part of. Overseeing a new club has been a challenge unlike any that I have ever faced, and it has been very exciting to watch the club grow. I have learned so many new things that will enhance my performance as the facility’s general manager.
Kushner: I started caddying when I was 14 years old, and PGA Professionals such as Michael O’Connor, Bob Ford, Jeff Dotson and Jerry Hogge helped shape my career. Adrian Morris was the person who introduced me to the idea of being a GM, and that has really shaped my path to the position I am in today.
Kushner: For me, goals are an important part of my daily routine. Whether it is setting small goals that I want to accomplish the next day, or writing out the goals for the whole year, goals are what keep me focused on a day-to-day basis. In my previous role, I reviewed my annual goals quarterly and made sure that we were tracking towards those goals. If I felt we were falling behind on a certain goal, I would make sure there was extra focus on that goal.
I would always write out the results of the goals at the end of the year and present them to the Board of Directors. This kept me and our team accountable and helped me focus on what I needed to improve the following year.
Kushner: I believe that technology, capital projects and member discipline have been at the top of a lot of clubs’ lists over the past few years. AI seems to be the popular topic across the globe right now, and I think that clubs will have to figure out how to utilize it in efficient ways, while maintaining the human touch and bolstering the value that golfers experience in club membership.
Capital projects are going to continue to be a huge focus for clubs, and the most successful clubs will be the ones that continue to push forward during the challenging times because they planned correctly during this latest golf boom.
Member discipline is very difficult because we are in the yes business, but part of creating a great culture is making sure that a select few do not ruin the experience for other members and make your club an unenjoyable place to work.
Kushner: Reading, listening to leadership podcasts and learning from other managers at various meetings and conferences have really helped me become a more effective leader.
Kushner: Go for it! Understand that you are not an expert at everything, and hire people who are, and learn from them. Hire the best team that you can find, and try to be an effective communicator.
Adam Kushner is the PGA of America General Manager at The Rose Golf Club in Hull, Georgia.